Two weeks ago we turned our attention to a new project on the never ending Owner Builder list; to finish laying floorboards throughout the house.

Firstly the area needed to be prepared, eight and a half years of grime needed to be removed so the glue would hold, and joins needed to be sanded down evenly.

Prior to beginning this project I was a little daunted as it was the first time we’d floored without any of our older boys, we would be relying primarily on Girl Power. I couldn’t be prouder of our Girls, they worked in sync, anticipated moves to keep it all flowing and wielded that nail gun ‘like a Boss.’

The boys were no slouches either, and it was thrilling to see Jack Jack(11yrs) blossom and grow in confidence as he ‘stepped up’ as the oldest lad at home. He became aware that he was far more capable and stronger than he’d realised. The boys were all keen to work, eager to learn new skills and mostly stayed the distance for the time this project took.

Truly Bass’ shirt here says it all, PC is a super hero, none of this would be possible without him and his indefatigable work ethic.

This was an exciting moment as the flooring covered the holes in the floor! No more ‘old house, new house’ either. The dining room in the background (where the gun is) was part of our ‘old house’, the learning room is part of the new ‘extension’, a misnomer as the extension is three times the size of the original.

Some of these boards were over 5 metres(16ft) long, and therefore took some weight to twist them back into ‘shape.’ Each board had to be knocked into place as tightly as possible into the groove, the ‘chock’ going ‘under the hammer’ protects the tongue.

Using green strapping strips were PC’s brainchild and made a huge difference in our flooring experience. Just by lifting the boards a few millimetres off the sheeting we were able to move the boards into place far easier than our previous experiences. The joys and challenges of working with second hand timber.

Three days later, along with lots of laughter and teamwork the two rooms; dining and learning room were finally done.

Once the yellowbox is sanded it will look simply stunning, however for now we’ve moved back in and will enjoy in its raw state. So excited it looks like a real house 🙂